


get to know each other coffee conversation

by starkreactor



Series: coffee, beer, and the end of the world [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bisexual Tony Stark, Coffee Shop dates with a twist, Loki Posing as Odin, M/M, Misunderstandings, One Shot, POV Loki (Marvel), Porn With Plot, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 22:31:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18226259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkreactor/pseuds/starkreactor
Summary: In which Loki pretty much sucks at staying away from Midgard, Tony may or may not have a four-year-long crush, Odin turns out to be a pretty insightful guy looking past the ominous eyepatch fashion statement he's flaunting, a spider boy can apparently give good advice, and the end of the known universe pauses its' destructive mission if only to give Loki the chance to fall in love.





	get to know each other coffee conversation

**Author's Note:**

> this started because i realized stephen strange wasn't at the sanctum as sorcerer supreme until a few months before thor and loki arrived to look for odin so loki could have visited earth a bunch of times and gotten away with it. so, in this story loki visits earth a bunch of times and gets away with it.
> 
> loki is also a bit more of an actual king than ragnarok implied he was but he's not evil-maniacal-laughter-levels-of-evil the dark world was setting him up to be, so consider this loki characterization kind of between the two leaning more toward ragnarok levels of humor.
> 
> this isnt too ragnarok or infinity war compliant—it's set in the summer/early fall of 2016—but it also _could_ be ragnarok and iw compliant, it's up to you.
> 
> lastly, thank you for reading! all comments and kudos are super appreciated~
> 
> EDIT 190417: hello this is ragnarok and iw compliant after all bc I wrote a sequel! seriously thank you all for the comments and kudos it really inspired me to put my sequel ideas to paper and get it out there~

Loki didn’t plan to ever check up on Odin after siccing him on Midgard shortly after taking the throne, but he felt a little unsatisfied knowing he was only able to usurp the throne thanks to Thor abdicating it to live with humans and Odin being too ill to even protest Loki taking the helm. Getting the throne was supposed to be more trouble than this, not saying Loki hadn’t gone through troubles to get where he sat now. He had infiltrated Asgard with frost giants and in turn found out _he_ was a frost giant and tried to kill himself, but that attempt did not work out too well as he ended up mind-controlled by Thanos and tortured to hell and back again in his clutch only to live, be imprisoned, and then killed saving Thor’s girlfriend from dark elves, but Thanos revived him _again_ \--that megalomaniacal fascist Mad Titan. Despite all this suffering the past 6 or so years, the throne was still so easy to get and Odin was still the man who raised him despite all his flaws and deceit, so Loki felt an admittedly weird obligation to making sure the old man was doing well in the elder’s home Loki had stuffed him into.

Odin didn’t remember Loki of course and the visits were short and quaint, certainly nothing to write home about. He visited once every month the first year, then once every three months after SHIELD fell and after Ronan lost the power stone. Loki had been sitting in the waiting room with Odin feeding him grapes when the news reports on SHIELD’s demise aired everywhere. Eventually the duties of being king took up more time than usual once Thor was traipsing about Midgard with his human shield-brothers and Loki completely missed the debacle that was Ultron. He had felt the Mind Stone’s power being used at full capacity but couldn’t spare the time to figure out what exactly was going down on Midgard. The intense flashbacks he felt from stone’s residual power bleeding through his veins didn’t make him very eager to check up on the events and he only knew Ultron happened thanks to Thor reporting on it.

Thor disappeared to look for more infinity stones, Midgard was dealing with the aftermath brought by the Avengers messing with robots, and Loki had very little to do in the meantime. Visiting Odin was getting boring and there was restlessness among the realms concerning the threat that loomed over them all. Loki spent way too much time trying to console various leaders without it being obvious he wasn’t Odin and he missed the Germany airport battle and the Siberian bunker fight the Avengers had between themselves. It was a bit frustrating seeing all of Loki’s hard work fall apart like this. He had brought them together to ruin the invasion with what little of his mind he had left from mind-control in order to get two infinity stones away from Thanos. Now the humans had stupidly _used_ one of the stones, which would only alert Thanos to its’ whereabouts, and fought between themselves which would leave them divided in time for Thanos to arrive.

It was more than a bit frustrating, it was _extremely_ annoying.

So Loki went back down to Midgard not really sure of what to do but knew that he needed to get these blasted humans back together again. There were a few problems with his lack of direction: one, Banner and his Hulk had disappeared into space, two, there was another stone on Midgard, and lastly, all the Avengers thought he was locked up or dead if Thor told them about Svartalfheim. There was no way possible he was going to bring them back together like he had the first time. He wasn’t as much of a threat anymore and he had no idea if the criminal outcast half of the team would bother teaming up and exposing their hideouts just for Loki. Loki thought highly of himself no doubt but he knew he was a minor threat in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps he saw himself as a lesser threat because he knew the grand scheme in full but in case those humans got wind of Thanos’ plans by using the mind stone, he had to keep low and not cause more of a rift between these people.

It was while he was standing outside the elder’s home checking the internet for news about the wayward Avengers that he spotted the man that had left the biggest impression on him. Well, aside from Banner _literally_ leaving an impression on Loki. The green-eyed god raised a curious eyebrow as he watched the brunette stroll down the busy New York streets without a care. He was admittedly surprised; this man was famous, one of the most well known people of the century, and somehow no one was giving him a second glance. Because of this, someone staring openly at him seemed to be enough of a rare occurrence for Stark to immediately look over in Loki’s direction. The man quickly froze in place.

Loki thought his glamour was good, no one had dared to question who he was whenever he visited and he knew Stark to have no magical capabilities within himself to even see past the glamour. Maybe his glamour was too good and Stark thought he saw someone he knew—the glamour was intended to let people see a random being they may have passed on the street long ago. Human brains were good at subconsciously memorizing faces so it was easy magic to cast on subconscious minds without actually having to alter his physical image. Stark was much too focused on Loki though for his apparent glamour to be only a passing face and the god slowly looked back at his phone in hopes he didn’t look too suspicious.

He should have expected Stark to walk over to him but he still found himself surprised when the man took off his sunglasses to give him closer look. He fixed his beanie with a frown and crossed arms. Frankly, Loki could understand why some people may not have recognized Stark. He was dressed oddly. Beanie aside, he was wearing a white turtleneck sweater that he pulled up his face to cover everything under his nose, a black blazer jacket, white skinny jeans, and black high tops.

It was weird.

“Can I help you, sir?” Loki eventually asked, eyes still staring at the screen in hand as if it would somehow help him escape from this situation. Stark scoffed and from the corner of his eye, Loki caught the man pulling down the neck of his sweater and folding the arms of his sunglasses in around the white collar.

“You’re Loki,” he said as if professing the sky above them was blue, “there’s no need for playful niceties here.”

The god glanced up from his phone and attempted to look as innocent as possible. “Claiming me to be Loki is very flattering, sir, but I cannot imagine why you would ask such a thing.”

Stark snorted. “Remember the last time you tried to use voodoo magic on me and it didn’t work? Guess what: It still doesn’t work on me, hot shot.”

“If I’m really Loki then why haven’t you apprehended me?”

“That’s what I’m doing right now; I’m not quite able to arrest you on the street when you haven’t done shit to Earth since the invasion. Plus, SHIELD gave you up to Asgard so you’re kinda part of their jurisdiction now which means I’m crossing lines if I formally do certain things.” Stark crossed his arms. “Thor did tell us though that you had died so I mostly curious about learning why you’re here very much not dead and why I should let you go, _if_ I do.”

Loki slipped his phone into his back pocket with a nonchalant shrug. “ _When_ you do; you cannot contain me as you are.” He motioned vaguely to the man’s lack of armor. “As for why I am here, Odin is stationed inside that elderly home and I came to visit.”

“Odin as in the king of Asgard?”

“Yes; what other Odin would I bother visiting? Please let me know when you find out so I can stop wasting my time here.” the god rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “He is ill and needed supervision I can’t provide while maintaining order on the throne.”

Stark blinked twice. “You’re ruling Asgard?”

“Well who else would do the job? My mother was murdered and your fellow Avenger abdicated the throne and is off prancing about the nine looking for colorful skipping stones.” Loki leaned back against the brick wall of the building and snorted. “Nothing bad has happened since I’ve been king so you don’t need to stress your human brain out and incite worry. It has been three years already and no one has noticed.”

Stark ran a hand through his shaggy hat-head hair, Loki noticing strands of grey mixed with the man’s usual brown. “And Thor somehow is okay with this?”

“He may or may not know his father is ill but he definitely does not know I am alive and,” green eyes hardened as fast as hot smelted steel in a water bath, “he will not know until it is absolutely necessary. Neither now nor any time until I see fit will it be necessary for him to know.”

“And when will you see it fit?”

Loki looked out into the bustling city crowd. “When the universe needs him to know my magic still lives.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes after that declaration. Stark eventually turned away Loki and leaned up against the wall too, a good half-meter away but still close enough that anyone walking by could assume they were hanging out together. Loki inwardly snorted at the idea of hanging out so casually with Anthony Edward Stark of all people on this planet. Granted, Stark was one of the few who tantalized Loki back during the invasion. He heavily appealed to whatever part of Loki’s mind was still his at the time. Loki wasn’t going to indulge in the idea now, but perhaps if they met under better circumstances hanging out like this would be normal.

At the very least the incidental meetup wasn’t legally interrogative so this would have to do.

Stark left midst the silence, giving Loki a nod as he slipped on his sunglasses and pulled his sweater back up. Loki raised a curious eyebrow—the man _had_ said he wasn’t going to let the god go—but Stark shook his head and stuffed his hands into his pants’ pockets before leaving the property. Loki watched him leave with curiosity on his tongue and an odd emotion in his chest. It felt a little like gratitude but he couldn’t figure out why he would be thanking Stark. SHIELD was dead, Stark obviously wasn’t going to be able to capture Loki, and Loki was a master in deceit and trickery. Maybe Loki spoke a lot of truth in their conversation but Stark had no reason to believe him.

Though Stark _did_ know Loki didn’t want to make himself known to Thor yet. Capturing Loki in any manner, legal or not, would bring Thor crashing in with demands for explanations Loki did not want to give. Perhaps it was in his best interest to leave this stone unturned and not bother with the slimy details left behind.

Loki waited until he couldn’t see Stark any more to head back inside the building for another hour or two with Odin, mind still reeling from the fact Stark could see through his glamour.

Of course this meant Loki had to up his glamour game and actually physically distort himself to look like one singular person instead of playing eye tricks. He came back to Midgard two days later which probably would have shocked the young service woman at the entrance counter but he didn’t look like who she thought she usually saw, so Loki got away with visiting Odin with no troubles.

The real reason why he came back so soon was to see if maybe Stark would walk by again and catch his eye. Loki was curious about the extent to which his glamour didn’t work because it was quite odd it didn’t the first time. He couldn’t recall seeing the glowing device in the man’s chest the other day but maybe he had gotten good at hiding it’s glow. Either way, Loki stood outside the building on his phone once more, half-checking the time and half-using a scanning app he had coded during a high council meeting on Asgard yesterday. It was meant to trace magical residue in both the air and on objects in the world. Near Stark Tower of course the residue was thickest but he was far enough away from the tower for it not to impede his current scans.

Loki had switched apps to play a short round of Crossy Road—he couldn’t beat the high score he made a few months back and it was frustrating him because how hard could it be to beat 427, dumb space cheese level—when he caught movement in his peripheral. He looked up and couldn’t help the smirk that formed at the sight before him. It was Stark, now in a white beanie with a black face mask on. He had a tight fitting blue t-shirt against his chest as he also wore loose black jeans and black sneakers. His brown eyes were framed by thick framed glasses and he looked tired but also curiously amused.

Loki looked him over and turned back to his phone. “Can I help you?” He couldn’t see it but he knew Stark rolled his eyes.

“You’re not even gonna attempt to fake it today?”

“There’s no need to keep up the lie with you,” his in-game chicken got smashed by a truck and he sighed unhappily. Green eyes turned back to Stark. “I will say I’m surprised you saw through this glamour.”

“I didn’t,” at that Loki’s eyebrows raised, “but I walk by here every few days after lunch since getting back from Siberia and I’ve never see anyone hanging outside the building around this time until I saw you. So I figured you had improved your glamours and took the chance anyway.”

Loki’s jaw clenched. “So you really couldn’t see the glamour the other day.”

“Nah, I don’t know what you were doing but to me you were so obviously Loki.” Stark adjusted his glasses and leaned back on his heels. “Odin still sick?”

“Yes and your attempts at small talk are dismal so stop while you’re ahead.” Loki gave him a look. “You got your answer as to if this is me, there’s no need to keep chatting here like we’re friends.”

“Friends is stretching it anyway. We’re more like ‘enemies who won’t kill each other this time only because it’d be more trouble to deal with than it’s worth’.” The brunette chuckled to himself. “I’m sure you know all about the Sokovia Accords. That’s why I couldn’t do anything to you. You don’t pose a threat so the World Council wouldn’t approve.”

“That’s faulty especially when dealing with mages who could trick you into believing they aren’t a threat.”

“Are you tricking me now?”

“No.”

Stark laughed. “You’re frightfully honest for being considered a god of deceit.”

“Deceit doesn’t mean all lies. It means trickery until the truth cannot be found. Sometimes multiple truths with a single white lie can bring things crumbling down.” Loki sardonically motioned to himself before slipping his phone in his pocket to give Stark his full attention. “I understand your want to put yourself and your fellow heroes in check, especially given the damage your lot has caused on this planet. Perhaps it was wise but you will not always have the luxury of waiting for the approval of others to make a move.” The god looked out into the city with a smile. “Midgard may be at a relative peace in which I truly believe you were correct in signing but the rest of the universe is at war, where time is of the essence and action must be taken with full self autonomy. Eventually, that war will come to this land.”

Stark nodded. “I know.” He sighed and leaned back against the wall, closer than he was the other day but still far enough away. “I thought I could prepare the world for what’s coming. For what I saw up there, what I saw from the stone.” Loki froze. “I couldn’t and I faced the harsh consequences for my actions. Now, I don’t know what to do. Just hope whatever is coming can take it’s sweet time getting here.”

“You saw visions from the stone?”

“Yeah. Kind of. I was manipulated by this witch who got her powers from the stone. Saw my worst fears come to life.” He shook his head and turned to Loki. “Hey, can you bring your old glamour back? You know, the one where I can still see you for you. It’s weird telling all this shit to a stranger.”

“We _are_ strangers, Stark.”

He laughed. “Strangers? We aren’t friends but we definitely are not strangers. Thor talks a lot when drunk and I am a public societal figurehead. We know each other.”

“We know _of_ each other.” Loki pulled out his phone and switched to the scanning app as he switched glamours. The app showed residual magic on Stark. It was interfering with Loki’s original glamour, as assumed. He continued on with crossed arms. “Thor only knows so much about me as do your media channels only know so much about you. I assure you there are things Thor does not know about me.”

“There are things Earth media doesn’t know about me that you wouldn’t know either.” Stark seemed to be a little closer now. “So, why not get to know each other?”

Loki balked. “Is the air pollution in this overly populated city getting to you, Stark? We are not close and a ‘get to know each other’ conversation over coffee isn’t going to change that.”

“Not with that attitude,” he chuckled and then grew serious. “To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of you but I'm also not a big fan of people in general right now. It would be remiss of me to act like my dislike toward them is the same as what I feel toward you.” He locked eyes with Loki here. “You are the biggest reason for all my anxiety, for why I obsessively built and destroyed my armors, why I created Ultron with Bruce, why I eventually signed the Accords. If you didn’t force me to send a damn nuke up that portal, maybe I wouldn’t dislike you this much but what’s done is done. All I have left is to face my fears before they consume me again.”

Loki didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what happened on Midgard while he was imprisoned and after that he only mostly focused on the Avengers in full. He opened his mouth and then closed it shut, lips pulled in a firm thin line. Stark turned back to look at the city and Loki finally found his words. “No one deserves to see what lies on the other side of that portal or to see the future death and destruction that feels as inevitable as time itself. It was not your burden to hold but I commend you for it.”

“Thanks I guess.”

“Still, you’re not facing your fears by talking to me. I am not a fear. I hurt you, caused you pain, brought you misery, but I am not the fear.”

“I inflicted more misery on myself being so stupidly obsessed—I lost friends, half my teammates, my girlfriend, society’s trust in me and the Avengers. You’re right; the fear isn’t you. It’s taking the right amount of blame _off_ you so I can accept the way the world is now in full. It’s so easy to just blame everything on you but it’s not that simple.” Stark looked back at Loki wryly. “You know, your eyes were blue back then and they’re not now. I had to double check yesterday against some old footage from our penthouse chat. You weren’t all to blame back then but I would fucking _love_ to absolve myself of any blame and keep it all on your shoulders.”

Loki’s voice was tight. “I still committed crimes.”

“I used to be the Merchant of Death,” he countered with a snort. “The Avengers aren’t crime free. It’s self autonomy that makes us different. We chose to better than our past selves. We choose to make a difference.”

“I am not buying into your Avengers recruitment infomercial, Stark.”

Stark barked out a laugh. “Oh no, you are definitely not Avengers material. I’m not either, hell, Fury originally only wanted me as a consultant and benefactor because Tony Stark is too volatile but they still wanted Iron Man. I just want to understand what happened four years ago. Why you did it.” He looked up at the sky with sad eyes. “Maybe it’ll help me understand other things. I don’t know. You haven’t killed me yet so you’ve got my hopes up now, Odinson.”

“I can’t possibly kill you in public in front of an elder's home.”

“You technically could but you won’t just like how you didn’t try to kill me in the penthouse until your scepter didn’t work.” Stark looked over at Loki with a smirk. “I interest you.”

Loki rolled his eyes but didn’t answer. The man was right, he _did_ interest Loki and it wouldn’t do any harm to talk with him. If anything, Loki needed someone who would listen to him and didn’t have familial hang ups over his existence. Besides, it was still extremely odd for Loki to see Stark so open to conversation with him despite getting off on such a wrong foot it might as well had been a hand during a terribly misguided handstand.

They stood in silence staring out in the crowd and Stark pulled out an e-cigarette to smoke with a contemplative tilt to his lips. Loki knew Stark to be a drinker not a smoker but didn’t comment on the action. He only turned back to his phone and continued his half-assed attempts at beating his high score on Crossy Road. Stark eventually left, still in silence, but with a short nod in recognition at Loki before making his way into the bustling city crowds. Loki watched him until he couldn’t see him anymore and walked inside the elder’s home to the receptionists’ surprise.

Loki came back a week later, held up by conferences and learning about some chaotic thing happening in Vanaheim that he really couldn’t do much about anyway. He arrived on Midgard haggard and tired, grateful he was king but annoyed by the state of the universe and the looming threat only he seemed to take seriously enough. He was later than usual and was pretty sure he missed Stark. Loki tried to curb the disappointment he felt as he approached the building, adjusting the rolled up sleeves of his black dress shirt to see no one standing there waiting.

Stark wouldn’t be so foolish to actually wait for Loki; he had no idea when Loki would come by in the first place. Maybe he should formulate a schedule and inform Stark. The god shook his head and walked inside only to stumble to a stop once he spotted Stark across the way. He had one iced coffee cup in hand, another iced coffee cup coupled with a pastry bag on the coffee table beside him, and was animatedly talking into an in ear microphone. He didn’t notice Loki, who was stupefied by the sight and frankly would have been embarrassed if Stark caught him looking.

“Do you know how long that man has been here?” Loki asked the receptionist as his eyes refused to pull from Stark.

“Oh! You’ve noticed Tony Stark over there,” she cooed in a disgusting manner. “He came in here a couple hours ago and said he was looking to meet someone. I didn’t even know he had any family alive to be here of all places!” She looked over toward Stark and sighed dreamily. “I know a lot of people are mad at him for Sokovia and his weapons dealings before becoming Iron Man, but he’s really saved millions of lives. It can never repay the lives his company has taken but you can’t be mad for a man trying to make a difference and better himself and the world for his mistakes. Most powerful people cower and never change.” Her blue eyes sparkled as she leaned in toward Loki. “Plus, he’s a bachelor again and I can’t help myself, he’s _so_ handsome.”

Loki looked back at Stark with a cock of his head. The man had his hair curled and gelled back, his goatee trimmed to perfection while translucent frames rested on his nose. He was dressed in a tight fighting black crop top with low-waisted well fitting black jeans. It looked entirely too good on him. When Stark stood up to stretch during his chat, the shirt rode up to expose more soft caramel skin and the delicious hints of muscles on the man’s stomach and chest. Loki took a sharp inhale and he turned back to the receptionist with a gritted smile. “I suppose so.”

She clicked her tongue. “You _know_ so. Anyway,” she turned to her computer. “You’re here for Aiden, correct? He seems to be responding well to your more frequent visits! You should come by more often for his sake.”

Loki nodded silently. Odin was responding better because he was infected by Loki’s magic and proximity to his magic meant regenerative properties were at work. The receptionist printed out his visitors badge and Loki immediately stalked over to Stark with a hiss. “What are you doing here?”

Stark gave him a once over with a huff. He ended his call and smiled. “I’m here to challenge you.” He motioned to the coffee cup on the table with a grin. “Coffee for that ‘get to know each other’ conversation you said would never happen. The pastry was free; the shop had a ‘buy two coffees get a snack free’ deal so I got a cookie. You can take it.”

“I don’t want your cookie or coffee, Stark; why are you following me? I thought you said you weren’t interrogating me.”

“I’m not!” He raised his hands with mock surrender. “But sure, if you don’t want it that’s fine by me. I like having a little extra coffee anyway. Keeps me up at night working on my tech.”

Loki looked back at the receptionist who was eyeing the two with interest and he realized they were the center of attention. He grabbed the cup and cookie with a low snarl. “We can have this conversation outside.”

Once outside in the hot summer sun, Stark’s playful attitude melted into a serious demeanor. “You can’t keep this secret from Thor, Loki. That’s _his_ dad, too.”

“It’s not as much as a secret as you think. Odin fell ill the night of Thor’s coronation. The blonde oaf knows his father is not well.” Loki sipped through the straw and closed his eyes as the soothing cold drink wet his throat. “Consider it mercy that he does not have to look over his dying father like I am. Odin is living longer here than otherwise.”

Stark frowned but started drinking his coffee in lieu of a reply. Loki stepped out onto the sidewalk to get away from the stifling emotions being near that damned elder’s house gave him. For some reason this motion gave Stark an idea. “Let’s go for a walk.” He motioned for Loki to follow him as he made his way down the sidewalk. “C’mon, we can talk without standing under the sun for twenty minutes. There’s a nice shady small park zone around here anyway.”

Loki probably should have stayed, “Aiden” was expecting him, but Stark looked _really_ good with the sunlight dancing on his skin and brown eyes sparkling with mirth and enthusiasm. Loki berated himself inwardly but followed the man anyway. They walked in silence for at least a block and a half before Stark started talking about the scenery and other meaningless things he could to fill the silence. The god realized as much as he wanted someone to talk to without strings attached, Stark did as well. Everyone the man was closest to in terms of the superhero business was unavailable to talk to without the ramifications of the Sokovia Accords looming over everything. It didn’t matter if half his team was criminals and he technically wasn’t allowed to interact with them, the other half was stilled tied up in the mess. Loki though was extremely removed from the event and couldn’t be biased even if he tried.

It was kind of a nice feeling, being wanted even just for random conversation. Loki found he was _listening_ , actively trying to ease Stark’s pains by being an engaged participant in the conversation. It pulled him from his own spiraling thoughts about the fate of the Nine, the dying Asgardian Allfather, Thanos making his violent trek through the galaxy, and the promised pain failure would bring that stamped fear into Loki’s soul. He didn’t have to worry about those things with Stark so when they sat on a wayward bench and Loki opened up the pastry bag, he split the cookie in half and wordlessly passed half to the other man.

Stark raised an eyebrow but then smiled and took a bite from the cookie with a gentle hum. He look celestial with a serene look on his face and warm flush to his cheeks. Loki bit his tongue to keep his thoughts from running away from him and escaping his mouth. It would not do much good to suddenly bring physical attraction to the forefront of whatever companionship they were cultivating. Besides, hooking up with mortals was more Thor’s agenda than Loki’s.

The duo did return to the elder’s home after some time and arrived in better moods than before. Stark left Loki with his number, a pat on the shoulder, and a small wave from down the block. Loki once again watched Stark leave his sight and caught himself smiling gently at the warmth he felt that absolutely did not come from the sunny weather in the city. The receptionist inside desperately wanted to ask questions but Loki didn’t bother and simply made his way to Odin. Odin perked and an unusually comforted look crossed his face.

“It’s nice to see you happy,” he said and Loki nearly dropped the Life Alert funded magazine he had picked up from the table. “I cannot remember much but I feel as if I haven’t seen you happy in many years.”

Loki could feel his eyes stinging with tears but he held them back and laughed. “It has been many years, hasn’t it?”

The rest of the visit had Loki distracted and unsure what exactly Odin read into his demeanor and how much he was recovering from the memory locking spell Loki had cast combined with the old man’s actual illness. It left him frazzled and when he returned to Asgard ignoring Skurge’s comments about being the superior Bifrost gatekeeper, he immediately went to the king’s quarters and magicked off the glamour. He walked into the bathroom and stared back at himself, looking into a face he hadn’t seen in a long time. It wasn’t as if he had the luxury to casually look at his reflection while on Midgard and usually he strayed away from presenting his unglamored self while on Asgard.

The god pulled at the sides of his hair and started to braid it back, his mind bring up memories of when his mother used to do the same. He tied it loosely and then washed his face with a discomforting sigh, looking up into the mirror between wet lashes to see high flush on his wetted cheeks. Loki didn’t look happy to himself but he also didn’t look as unhappy and mentally ruined as he did during the invasion or during his lock up and consequential run in with the dark elves. So perhaps this was what happy Loki looked like.

Loki attempted a happy smile and the awful grimace made him roll his eyes with a chuckle. For some reason his thoughts trailed toward Stark, questioning how the mortal man would feel seeing his attempt at a forced smile. His smiles could be better than that of course, he had to be good with making faces in order to be the master illusionist he was, but there was something exciting about wondering how the mortal man would feel about it.

The god looked back into the mirror then and caught just the briefest smile on his face in time for him to reinstate his glamour. He stared at the one dark eye in the sullen grey face of his adopted father and bowed his head as a knock rang through the air. Loki took in a breath, prepared himself to be Odin, and opened the door with a grim smile.

The grim smile stuck with Loki into the night and through the week. He almost let two weeks pass by without a visit but he started thinking about Stark’s stupid sunglasses during a district meeting and figured maybe if he faced the guy again he could get over whatever minor obsession he was having. Thus, Loki appeared on Midgard about eleven days since his last visit. He wasn’t keeping track of the days on Midgard as much as usual and he honestly didn’t even expect Stark to be there but he went to visit anyway. If anything else, Odin was feeling better and Loki needed to mend his memory spell in person anyway.

As expected, Stark wasn’t there, so Loki was quickly in and out of the elder’s home after touching up a few fraying edges of the spell and Odin’s consciousness. Odin had asked if he could meet the person that made Loki happy and it grated at Loki’s nerves. He honestly hoped that the senile old man had forgotten about that but apparently not. He told Odin yes to appease him and then stalked off in a flustered mood.

He realized then that he had a lot of time on his hands having escaped the district meeting and wasn’t really in the mood for going back to it either. He decided to take a walk around and get a better handle on the city layout. He knew most of it thanks to the invasion and having to know various streets and whatnot to get to the Stark Tower—now dubbed Avengers’ Tower—but being able to explore the city without Thanos pressing into his mind was a treat.

He passed by a street vendor selling flowers and smiled to himself at seeing a bouquet of white lilies. Lilies were some of his mother’s favorite flowers and the purity of white only made him think of how heavenly and kind she was to him, Thor, and Odin. Loki felt a pang in his chest at the memory of her. He found himself regretful that he had been so rude in her last moments with him. She loved him and he loved her but couldn’t find the strength to tell her. Love was a weakness and he kept the taste of that mantra on his tongue for years after discovering his true heritage. If Loki had been a little less vengeful and more, well, sane—he was still recovering from Thanos and the mind stone ripping themselves from his head after all, maybe he would have been kinder in those last few moments together.

Still it was fruitless to waste thoughts on a past he couldn’t control, so Loki opted to commend her memory and buy that bouquet. He walked down the street with the flowers in his face, letting the sweet scent wash over him as memories of running through palace gardens with Thor swam through his mind. As a young boy, the thought of Thor and Loki ever being separated and losing the love they had for each other was inane. Impossible even. Loki would have never imagined such a thing but oh, in just the blink of an eye—yes, over half a decade for mortals but such a short time for Asgardians—Thor and Loki became golden crown prince Thor and his villainous insane brother Loki. Perhaps one day this relationship would be mended but Loki still felt the icy fire in his soul and knew that rekindling a true brotherhood with Thor would take a long time, if it ever happened.

As the sun began to set, Loki found himself at the entrance to the Avengers tower. He snorted with a sort of _duh_ tone to his voice. He shook his head and took a deep breath into the flowers, eyes scaling up the building to the large A logo toward the top. He could hardly believe it had been a little more than four years since the Chitauri came and almost destroyed this very building. Stark was indeed a very wealthy man to convert his personal tower into a base for his teammates.

“You’ve brought flowers to come visit me? Tell me you brought a bottle of wine too; then we can really get down.”

Loki turned at the voice and lowered his hands with an unamused look. Stark was leaning against the glass side with a laudy smirk and joyful eyes. He was dressed in just a t-shirt and jeans, nothing inherently special, but it was comforting to see. “I didn’t bring wine; for future reference Asgardians are far more favorable toward beer, and these flowers are not for you.”

Stark mockingly pouted as he pushed himself off the side of the building and made his way to the god’s side. “Who are they for then? I didn’t know you were courting someone out here.”

 _Only you_ , his stupid brain supplied and Loki brought the flowers back up to his face to hide the accompanying blush the thought brought to his pathetically pale face. “I’m not seeing anyone of importance right now. These are in memory of my mother. Lilies were her favorite.”

“Oh, apologies.” Stark smiled softly and looked as if he were to put a comforting hand on Loki’s shoulder. Loki wanted it; he selfishly wanted it and tried not to show his disappointment when Stark didn’t bother to complete the motion. “You’re here late though. What brought you by the tower?”

“You.” Loki murmured offhandedly and didn’t even realize he had said it aloud until he caught Stark’s flabbergasted look. “As in, memories. Last time I was here we were fighting each other.”

“You really wanna relive that? I don’t. Defenestration isn’t fun.”

“Getting pummeled into the penthouse floor by Hulk afterwards isn’t fun either.”

“You deserved it though.”

Loki’s accompanying laugh was easily affable. “Perhaps I did.” He looked up at the superhero team’s logo and sighed. “Does it feel like the invasion was only four years ago? Even to me, who can live for thousands of years, it feels like it was a lifetime ago. Almost as if a different me had stood here and terrorized the city. I’m somewhat glad I can visit and create better memories here thanks to your generosity with your time.”

“Yeah? Me too, Lokes.” Loki looked over to find Stark staring openly at him, eyes sparkling with something the god couldn’t decipher. Stark seemed to shake himself out of things and stuffed his hands in his pockets with a grin. “Anyway, the building is on the market to be sold off. The Avengers have a bunker base upstate and since the Avengers Initiative is temporarily half-dead there’s no need to keep this building around anymore.” Loki nodded silently. “You got a vase for those flowers?”

“Ah, no,” green eyes looked down at the vibrant white lilies in hand. “I was thinking of planting them in the palace gardens when I return to Asgard.”

“Oh, that’s sweet.”

“Yes.”

They were in a conversation standstill and Loki didn’t know _why_. He was a wordsmith, a master at starting conversation and ending them with the most ingenious phrases. He could work his way out of any dying conversation yet here he stood before Tony Stark with a flower bouquet in his hands and an insane wish to hope the conversation wouldn’t end even though they weren’t talking about anything. He pulled out a flower from the bouquet and twirled it between his fingers with a hum.

“I’m not an expert on flower symbolism but I know a few things thanks to making potions,” Loki started hesitantly, careful not to make eye contact with the other man. “White lilies are a symbol for purity and modesty. They are often used on one’s grave to recognize the dead leaving their sins and reaching a purer state of existence. My mother was no angel. She was as guilty as my father with many atrocious actions but I do hope her soul has been cleansed and lives on in a life better than the one she lived on Asgard.” He pinched at a petal on the stalk he had taken from the bouquet and watched red bleed into the white. “Red on the other hand means passion. Passion for anything but often for love and affection. For lust and desire.” Red bled into orange. “Orange is the tiger lily. It represents confidence, pride and wealth. Appropriate for a king I’d say. And pink,” he traced a finger down the petal towards the sepal of the flower, “is for prosperity and abundance. My personal favorite is yellow.”

Here Loki looked up at Stark and passed the lone flower forth. Stark took it carefully, eyes trained on Loki as he did so. Their fingers brushed and Loki fought the urge to take the man’s hand in his. “What does yellow mean?”

“Yellow is a curious color,” Loki started, staring into his bouquet again. “In essence, it is a joyous color. It means happiness and joy, friendship and comfort. In the language of flowers, yellow can also mean deceit and dishonesty, lies and trickery.” He shrugged to himself. “How can a color that brings so much joy also be a symbol for improbity? Much like a double edged sword, happiness comes with lies. Yellow is the color that encompasses it all and leaves us with a bright aftertaste.” He looked up at Stark again and gave him a half smile. “With lilies, yellow is a false happiness. A happiness that has you feeling like you could be walking on air with an undercurrent of falsehoods.”

“What exactly are you trying to say by giving me a yellow lily then?”

Loki smirked and waved a passing hand, the yellow paling back into the flower’s natural white. “I did not give you a yellow lily. Consider the fact you see this flower as being yellow a lie. The lily itself is still white under the glamour, Stark.”

“You don’t have to keep calling me by my last name you know.” he smelled the lily in hand and smiled. “I’m sure you had a double meaning there with giving me a yellow flower even if you won’t say it.”

“You make me happy,” the god said bluntly, watching the man’s eyes widen with surprise at the sudden confession. “I noticed it when Odin commented on it last I saw you. I accepted it in the past few days when I wanted to see you again.”

“Loki,”

The god shook his head and chuckled darkly. “It’s a false happiness I suppose. Everything about me is a false in some manner.” He looked up into the sky with a frown. “I never intended to let you know if it’s any consolation.”

“Being happy isn’t a _bad_ thing,” Stark-- _Anthony_ \--started as he stepped toward Loki. “I’m not upset about it if that’s what you’re lowkey freaking out about. To be honest, even though we’ve only hung out twice you make me kinda happy, too. You’re refreshing in a sort of aberrant way.”

Loki raised a curious eyebrow. “Refreshing? That is hardly a word I would use to describe myself.”

“To me, who sees you as a magical alien being who can’t necessarily judge me for my life decisions given his are a million times worse? You’re refreshing.” He smelled the flower again and grinned wider. “Yeah. I like you. We can be friends as long as you’re not trying to subjugate my world again.”

“I have no desires to repeat the attempt.”

“Then consider those ‘get to know each other’ coffee conversations a weekly staple.”

“You’re really going to hold that phrase against me, aren’t you.”

“Oh, you can bet your ass I am.” Anthony laughed and started walking down the street. “It’s getting dark and to be honest I don’t want you to go yet so let’s get something to eat. If you get in trouble for being gone from your throne for a few hours, don’t blame me.”

Loki didn’t get in trouble for getting back to Asgard late and even if he were to, it wouldn’t matter much to him. The dinner itself was quaint, Anthony shared stories from his childhood and Loki shared a couple too. The other man also tried to quiz Loki on the Norse Eddas, which were frankly full of misconceptions and outrageously insane scenarios Loki had never heard of or encountered in his life. It made for good jokes during dinner though and it left Loki a little empty inside when he had to return to Asgard.

True to Anthony’s words though, the coffee conversations became weekly. The first one since they officially began this friendship was after Loki visited Odin, telling the older man he would be leaving early to hang out with a friend. Odin seemed overly joyous that Loki was making friends and he practically rushed Loki out to enjoy himself. This left Loki flustered for his hang out with Anthony, who had just appeared around the corner dressed way too nice for this to be a simple hang out. Loki himself had his hair pulled back in a somewhat messy bun, small strands framing his face in what he thought was an attractive enough manner. Not that he was trying to dress himself up for seeing Anthony of course, no, he was wearing all black from head to toe, black shirt, black jeans, and black shoes, with a black watch to match.

Anthony was dressed very nicely: crisp red dress shirt, with an off white grey tie, dark slacks, burgundy vest, and shiny polished dress shoes. It looked more like he had come straight out of a meeting to meet up with Loki. “Hello,” Loki blurted at seeing the other man, nervously brushing a hair strand behind his ear. “I wasn’t sure how to dress.”  
  
“Oh, you’re fine as you usually are, no worries. I like the Asgardian prince look anyway. But what you’re wearing now is perfect.” Anthony’s smile really was attempting to outshine the sun. “I’m only dressed like this because I blasted my way out of a business meeting. Well, not _literally_ blasted but I did practically run down the halls because I didn’t want to be late.”

“I wouldn’t have been upset if you were tardy.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather not be late to our first date.” They both froze and Anthony laughed awkwardly to fill the silence. “Date without the romantic connotations. I mean we’re friends, newly friends at that, it would be stupid to think I said date and meant it _that_ way.”

“I hadn’t assumed otherwise.”

Anthony winked. “Sure. Anyway, follow me; I know this great place that’s pretty secretive about letting celebrities take their coffee breaks in their shop.”

The walk to the coffee shop was pleasant and soothing. Loki found he rather liked the sound of the other man’s voice when it wasn’t tinged with despise or anger. He was struck again with the idea that Anthony needed someone to listen to him with an unbiased ear and smiled to himself at the fact that _he_ was that person now. His friends had fought and deserted him and now Loki was here to be that person. At the shop the duo sat toward the back, Anthony still going on about the most recent mess his pet robots made back at his mansion. It compelled Loki to tell stories about the wild pets Thor tried to adopt when they were younger and the outrageous stories made Anthony laugh into his cup and spurt coffee all over his face. It was an endearing first coffee conversation and at the end, when they decided to do this weekly, Loki knew he would have to struggle to not let this friendship bleed into more dangerous territory.

As Loki sat across from Anthony on the sixth coffee date with a high flush in his cheeks and the man’s awfully attractive smile warming his chest, he discovered friendship had long since leapt into that dangerous territory, probably since the day with the flowers. Anthony was talking about something silly a board member from an opposing company had said and Loki could barely hear it over the realization rushing through his disoriented brain. His eyes were trained on Anthony’s moving lips, a burning in his chest that he could barely deny. He felt dizzy with a happiness, confusion, elation, and horror. The influx of emotions was very overwhelming and paralyzing.

Loki wasn’t a seer and didn’t have the ability to see the future but he knew this definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to fall for Tony Stark while trying to figure out how to prepare Midgard for Thanos yet here he was, watching those brown eyes crinkle at the corners, that shy smile slip onto his lips after his story was finished, the soft red to his cheeks and the cunningly sharp humor from his story still seeping into Loki’s heart. Oh, he had it _bad_. Loki could understand now how Thor fell for Jane Foster so quickly. Perhaps mortals were more enticing than Loki predicted. No, not mortals: just Tony Stark.

With this stunning fact permeating every fiber of Loki’s being, he mentally walked through all the previous interactions he had with the man and came to the conclusion that acting on his recently discovered deep attraction had a low probability of ending poorly. So Loki leaned over the small table and kissed Anthony before he could regret the fact. If he ruined the friendship he had cultivated with this move, so be it. Asgard deserved his full attention anyway but the man before him was too titillating and gorgeous to not do anything about the attraction. Anthony though didn’t even give Loki the chance to regret as he reached out and pulled the god closer as he returned the kiss until they were moaning into each other’s mouths with too much abandon for still being in a somewhat public venue.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first day I fucking met you,” the man gasped when Loki broke the messy kiss for air. He looked debauched; grey-streaked hair messy, pink lips wet and used. It made Loki happier seeing Anthony like this. “Not even joking; up in the penthouse I wanted you so bad.”

Loki was admittedly flattered. “I was planning on taking over your planet and you _wanted_ me?”

“I made a dick performance joke for a reason, you know.”

“Do near death experiences fuel your libido?”

“More often than not.”

“You’re _insatiable_.” he got a tongue-filled kiss for that. “We need to go somewhere else to continue this tryst.”

“Bathroom.” Loki gave him a look. “It’s better than the Avengers tower; I don’t know who could be in there and while I’m pretty lenient with you, everyone else on this planet is most likely very much not.”

The rush to the bathroom was a flurry of limbs and Loki found himself slammed against the wall once the door was locked and secured. Anthony’s lips were on his again, sucking and licking with wanton abandon. Loki was beyond thrilled, moaning into the kisses as he sucked on Anthony’s tongue and gripped the man’s hips hard enough to bruise. Anthony’s mouth moved to his neck, nipping at bared skin with soft hums. “You probably have to go back up to Asgard soon.”

“Don’t talk about Asgard while you’re sucking hickies into my neck,” hissed Loki as he thrusted his hips against Anthony’s.

The man shivered from the rough contact but bit Loki’s neck with a low growl. “I only meant to say we don’t have much time together right now so if you don’t mind, I’d like blow you because I haven’t sucked dick in fuckin’ years and I _really_ wanna choke myself stupid on yours.”

Loki felt a few brain cells perish from the sudden rush of blood down south. “Oh,” he croaked, simpering when he felt Anthony’s smirk against his skin. A hand came between their bodies and pressed against his growing erection. “I don’t mind at all.”

The speed at which Anthony fell to his knees probably would have made Loki laugh but at the moment his brain was halfway in another galaxy and he couldn’t really process much of anything else happening. Anthony’s fingers were unzipping Loki’s jeans and pulling his growing dick out with an urgency that excited Loki unlike any other time he’d been sexual with someone. The hunger in the mortal’s gaze was probably what did him in the most. Loki had never seen someone so desperate to get his mouth on his dick. Not that Loki never had people eager for him, no, he had his own suitors as much as the next guy, but having Tony Stark on his knees for him was filthy delicious. Seeing those intelligent brown eyes blown dark with lust, those thick lips wet and parted with amazement; it was a beautiful sight and Loki truly would never forget it as long as he lived.

“I knew I’d have you on your knees one day,” Loki purred, running a hand through those frazzled brown locks as his fingers curled into Anthony’s hair.

Anthony huffed a humorous breath against Loki’s dick. “Don’t make me laugh.”

Loki snorted but the snorted melted into a content sigh as Anthony tugged a couple times at the god’s cock and then licked a wet stripe up the half-hard length. The man’s eyes were gently closed shut, long lashes fluttering against his cheekbones as he breathed in against Loki and pressed wet sultry kisses to his shaft. Anthony sucked here and there with his kisses, moaned against the wetted skin so the vibrations jostled Loki and made him harder with anticipation. Loki leaned his head back against the wall with a low groan when Anthony tongued at his tip, lapping at what he could before licking his way back down to Loki’s balls. He sucked on them, looking up at Loki with hooded eyes and an electric smile that made Loki’s grip in his hair tighten just enough.

Anthony’s right hand kept stroking at Loki, arousing him to full hardness as he continuously sucked at the god’s shaft until it was shiny with his spit. Once satisfied, Anthony took the head into his mouth and sucked hard. His eyes fluttering closed in time with Loki’s uninhibited moan, tongue gliding around the pink cockhead in his drenched mouth. Anthony pulled back, spit trailing from his upturned lips, and he went licking down Loki’s shaft again. He buried his nose against coarse black public hair as his tongue traced a moist path across the sensitive flesh before pulling back up to take Loki’s pink cockhead between his lips once more.

Loki was half-tempted to thrust further into Anthony’s mouth—the man did say he wanted to choke on cock not pamper with kitten licks—but he liked the current pace too much to actually do anything to change it. Anthony was taking in more this time, hot breath wrapping Loki’s cock in the warm sopping wetness. He tried to bottom out immediately but pulled back with a choked out gasp, the wet squelch of his throat releasing Loki’s cock sending shivers down the god’s spine. Saliva dribbled from Anthony’s parted lips and Loki wiped a trail away with his unoccupied hand, licking it off his fingers with a content sigh. Anthony returned to Loki’s dick with newfound relish, slurping loudly as he bobbed his head with guttural moans. Loki lightly thrusted in time with Anthony’s motions, sliding more and more of his cock into the man’s drenched mouth with every thrust.

Loki’s fingers tightened in those dark brown curls, eyes glued to the pretty lips that wrapped around his cock, stretched so beautiful and obscene around his girth. There was something maddeningly arousing about watching this man suck Loki off. Every press of his tongue against Loki’s shaft, every inch of his heated mouth that wrapped around Loki’s cock, every second of the sultry gaze he gave Loki as he bobbed his head was driving Loki that much closer to the edge. He shoved his hips forward out of reflex when Anthony’s tongue pressed hard against the underside of Loki’s cock as he sucked and the man pulled away with a hard choke, smacking his lips as he struggled to catch his breath. He pressed his spit-slicked lips to Loki’s head again and slowly worked his mouth back around it, fisting Loki’s saliva-drenched shaft with his right hand. His right hand twisted and pulled as his head bounced with his heavy wet sucks. Loki moaned at a particular twist of the wrist and Anthony grinned around the cock in his mouth.

That’s when Anthony really started to choke himself on Loki, bottoming out for as long as he could, nose buried deep in black hair. He came up gasping with drool dripping from his lips and connected to Loki’s cock that he didn’t even bother cleaning up as he quickly got his mouth back on Loki to bottom out again. It was so messy; Anthony’s chin was shiny with spit and precome and he was moaning with every sloppy head-bob he made. Loki started thrusting into Anthony’s mouth, growling under his breath as he used the man’s mouth as the deliciously wet orifice it was and fucked with little abandon. Tears were filling Anthony’s eyes and he gagged and coughed as his throat burned but he eagerly went back for more. The man’s aching need to have his mouth filled with Loki’s cock was beyond filthy for the god and he was finding it extremely hard to not reach his orgasm and fill Anthony’s mouth with come.

“Oh god,” Anthony eventually gasped, fumbling with wet hands to unzip himself and pull out his throbbing hard cock. He wrapped his right hand around it and pulled a couple times, shivering with the contact as he mouthed against Loki’s shaft. He enveloped Loki’s dick with his mouth again and sucked hard twice before using his left hand to grab Loki’s ass and shove him forward.

Loki got the message and pistoned his cock into Anthony’s mouth, watching with lusted eyes and a panting mouth as his cock disappeared between those wet lips. Anthony stroked his own dick to the rhythm Loki set, moaning and sloppily bobbing his head to fill his mouth. He was crying now, the tears leaving streaks down his cheeks and Loki brushed a trail away with a soft smile. The smile curled into an open mouthed cry as Anthony sucked in a particular brash fashion that send waves of lust through every inch of Loki’s body. He quickened his pace with a fervor, eyes locked with lust blown brown. Anthony was fucking up into his own fist and whimpered with every thrust Loki made into his mouth. It was filthy and more than halfway to carnal but Loki couldn’t give two damns about it as Anthony looked so pretty and perfect with his mouth stuffed with cock.

Surprisingly Anthony came first, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he shuddered and spilled into his fist with heavy jerks. Watching the man come from sucking Loki off pushed Loki over the edge too and he didn’t really have time to give warning before he was crying out and gushing into Anthony’s mouth. Anthony swallowed as much as he could but murky white still dribbled from between his overworked lips and into his wet goatee. Loki’s knees were weak and he slid to the floor after his now flaccid dick slipped from Anthony’s mouth. The man licked his lips before tugging Loki in for a deep mouth kiss. He sighed into it with a satiated desire and Loki’s lips curled into a smile out of reflex. He petted Anthony’s hair and pulled back to kiss at his cheeks where the salty tear tracks could still be tasted.

“Are you well?” Loki asked, wiping at the tears and kissing the brunette’s lips ever so softly.

Anthony nodded and gently leaned into the soft kiss with a smile. “I’m beyond well. Consider me very much satisfied.” He watched Loki grab his come-splattered hand and went wide-eyed as the god started to clean off his hand with soft laps of his tongue. “Oh, that’s hot. Fuck, you’re so hot.”

“Your voice is especially attractive after your throat spends adequate time associated with my dick,” Loki pointed out as he licked a drop of come off Anthony’s thumb. “Rough, used, wrecked. I like it.”

“You know what I like?” Loki shook his head as he sucked gently at Anthony’s callused fingers. “I like _you_.”

The god smiled and kissed the pads of sticky fingers. “I like you, too, Anthony.”

Anthony smiled, a warm gentle thing that melted into a kiss, and they languidly made out until the bathroom floor got too hard to ignore. They cleaned themselves up and left the restaurant in moderate silence, strolling down the street side by side. Loki was so tempted to take Anthony’s hand in his, a childish desire he supposed, but he knew it probably wouldn’t be best for Anthony to be out in public holding hands with a guy. He didn’t know much about Midgardian romantic displays of affection very well, especially between same gendered peoples, but he knew Anthony was famous enough to start up a conversation in the Midgardian social public regardless.

Loki left for Asgard this time with a kiss on his lips. The buzzing sensation Anthony always seemed to give him followed him back to the palace and burrowed a way into his heart without trouble. He should have been more worried about how attached he was getting but he couldn’t find the energy to really care. Unfortunately the next week until their seventh coffee shop meet up was haggard for Loki. He was thoroughly reminded of the universe’s impending doom and when he visited Odin, the old man seemed to notice how worn out and deflated the sorcerer was.

“Work troubles?” he asked curiously, moving a chess piece across the board. Loki nodded solemnly and presented a counterattack, placing his adoptive father in check. “Is your boyfriend stopping by later? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“First, I don’t have a boyfriend,” the god unhappily grunted out, “Second, you’ve never met him.”

“He’s the short brunette with the goatee,” he waved his hand as he tried to remember something. “Ah yes, the Stark boy. He visits when you can’t. He’s a very kind man and certainly sounds like a boyfriend.”

Loki wanted to simultaneously kill and kiss Anthony to death. Instead he cocked a half-real smile. “He is a dear friend and I simply didn’t know he had been visiting. He doesn’t tell me those things.”

“He really likes you.”

“I know.” Loki looked down at the chessboard with a fond smile. “He has been a wonderful fixture in my life during the past a couple months we’ve reconciled. He makes the job easier too, easier to go back to when it gets rough.”

Odin nodded satisfactory. “You should tell him how you really feel.”

“I did but I don’t plan on letting him forget it.” the old man laughed and Loki stood up with a bow of the head. “I find myself almost late to meet Anthony for our conversation. Until next week, Aiden?”

“Until next week, Thomas.”

Loki almost opened his mouth to correct the man, if only to hear his name in that voice without scorn lacing the word. He shook his head and smiled, giving the receptionist a kind goodbye as he signed out and left the building to see Anthony already at the gates. An uncontrollable smile graced Loki’s lips and he formed it into a cocky smirk as he approached the brunette.

“Have a new shop in mind?” asked Loki as he leaned against the gate, green eyes lit with anticipation.

Anthony leaned up and gave him a small peck on the lips. Loki flushed and scowled at the man. “Hi to you, too. But I do have a new shop I can take you to. It’s a bit of a drive away so I brought my car but this place has amazing breakfast scones and croissant sandwiches. The coffee is, of course, to die for.”

“Lead the way, dearest Midgardian coffee aficionado.”

They did get coffee and Loki maybe talked about the unrest in a wayward Asgardian district to an outsider while Anthony talked about the newest nano tech armor he was working on, but any possible regret either could feel about letting the other in on the secrets of their world was overshadowed by another blowjob in a coffee shop restroom. As Loki painted Anthony’s face with warm white and released a pleasured sigh with content, he couldn’t really find it in him to be too upset about the previous conversation. Knowing what at least one Avenger was doing could help him figure out how to save the universe. Hell, maybe they could work _together_ to do so.

In the meantime though, Tony Stark has a newly unveiled desperation for cock and Loki was ever so willingly to fuel that need.

On the tenth coffee date, Loki decided to bring a gift of sorts for Anthony. It probably wasn’t the best thing to present but no one up in Asgard would be missing it given the only two mages of Asgard would be able to make use of it were either dead (Loki) or had it missing for good reason (Odin). Loki contemplated showing Odin the gift he got for his boyfriend—after the seventh date Tony said they’re definitely boyfriends and it made Loki so irrationally happy that he blew Tony in the back of the man’s car—but got worried the residual magic in the device would kickstart his memory and undo Loki’s spell.

Loki approached Tony at this dinner date with a question on his tongue. “Odin previously called you my ‘boyfriend’ three weeks ago,” he started with a hum, “and he claims you visit him when I don’t.”

Tony looked appropriately guilty. “I never said you were my boyfriend to him, but I did visit a few times just to see if maybe you dropped by early.”

“He could definitely sense you were courting me.”

“Courting? Oh, you Asgardians and your Medieval English slang.” he chewed contemplatively on his coffee biscuit. “Is it that obvious that I’m into you?”

Loki shrugged. “You at least made a good impression on him so I decided to gift you.” Tony raised both eyebrows with surprise and took the carefully wrapped gift Loki presented. “This is a tome from the millenia old Asgardian palace library. It is one of the first books I ever learned magic from.”

Tony looked absolutely awed. He carefully unwrapped the present and brushed gentle fingers over the cover. His eyes were glowing with excitement. “Is it in English because I’m not some weird Earth sorcerer, I can’t understand Old Norse.”

“The tome is magic; it will rewrite itself in the language the reader is most comfortable with.” Loki smiled tiredly and bowed his head. “It is a story about the creation of the universe and the magics that were born from it. I am giving this to you not just as I feel it would interest you, but to educate you.”

“I know you’re over a thousand years old but I’m 46, leaning on the old side of a human male life span, and have, like, a bunch of PhDs in the technical sciences. I’m pretty sure I know the creation of the universe like the back of my hand.” Tony shook his head and put the book down. “Still, if there’s anything left for me to know, I’ll gladly learn it. Magic is just a science I haven’t mastered yet.”

Loki nodded. “I guess I should say it’s to help you understand the end of the universe.” Tony’s face darkened and he looked at the book with narrowed eyes. “While I did come back to this realm to visit Odin, meeting you was in my favor.” The god looked down at his hands and let loose a shaky sigh. “I was not myself when I invaded your city. Someone else had far more control of my sanity, or lack thereof, than I could ever wish. He calls himself Thanos, the Mad Titan. Titans, Celestials, Inhumans, and the Eternals ruled the universe before humans came to full fruition. Humans, being mortal with very short life spans were often excluded from extraterrestrial happenings like the Skrull and Kree war, the Nova Armys on Xandar, many many things.”

Loki looked out through the window with a dull stare. “It seems fate has decided to bring you back into the fold, more than before at least. The Avengers is the largest world wide known organization on Midgard to combat this looming threat. I came to Asgard the first time to bring you all together while I could and keep the stones of creation from the Mad Titan’s hands. These stones, created by Death, Entropy, Infinity and Eternity, can destroy the universe. I am here again with a hope to keep the stones from Thanos with better success now that I’m of my own mind.”

Silence fell between the two and Tony’s face swam through a myriad of emotions. Loki stared at his water cup and waited for a response. “So,” started Tony and the tightness of his voice made Loki look up, “you’re trying to put the Avengers back together.”

“Yes.”

Tony laughed and pushed the book back toward Loki. “I understand the yellow lily a lot better now.”

Confusion overrode Loki for a moment before it all clicked. Did Tony somehow think that Loki was dating him just to get close and use him for the Avengers? “No, Anthony; that was not my intention with the lilies. I never intended to trick you into anything.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“Tony,” Loki reached out for his hand and flinched when the man pulled back. “Please listen to me; you’re reaching conclusions that are not real.”

“You yourself said that all it takes is one single lie in a bunch of truths to bring things crashing down.” He laughed with disbelief and Loki could physically feel the end of whatever this was between them falling to pieces under a falsehood. “I gotta go. I won’t let you use me like this for whatever your crazy plan is. The other Avengers won’t _listen_ to me anyway. You should have wooed Steve instead.”

Loki couldn’t find the words to reply, clambering to his feet as Tony did the same. “Tony, don’t do this. Don’t walk away now.”

“Why should I stay? Why should I believe you? I don’t even know what to believe.” He ran shaky hands through his hair and laughed. “I can’t believe I really thought I could outsmart a trickster.”

“Outsmart—,” Loki crosses his arms. “You have the audacity to be upset at me for something I have never claimed to do when you have used me yourself.”

“God, I only wanted to trick you into admitting that you’re head over heels for a ‘mortal ant’ because I liked you so much,” Tony shook his head. “I really played myself believing what you said so easily. The night with the yellow lilies; I was so into you, so desperately ready to let you know how much I wanted you to be _mine_. You said I made you happy but I can’t even believe that.”

“You _do_ make me happy.”

“And you can create glamours that I can’t see through, too, so I don’t even know what to believe on your face or from your mouth!”

In a flash of desperate green, Loki cast off the spells on himself and grabbed Tony’s hands. “You’re making this much more complicated than it ever should be. I never decided to date you with deceit in my card deck. I even thought maybe it could be just us working side by side to save the universe like I used to dream about when Thor and I were young and adventurous. You and me, Tony. Only you and me.” He tightened his grip with urgency in his hold. “I am glamour free right now, you see me in the purest state I could be in. Perhaps the only lie I have ever told you is that I like you because,” his throat closed up with emotion and he fought through the lump, “I think I love you.”

Tony scoffed but his eyes were wet. “I don’t know if I can trust what you’ve said. I’m sorry. I’ve been backstabbed and betrayed by a lot of people in the past year; hell, even my own fucking robots can’t bother to be trustworthy.” He pulled his hands from Loki’s and the god noticed they were shaking. “It’s suitable I guess that I ended up falling for someone whose game is deception. Even if you didn’t intend to date me with deception you never told me all your reasons for being here, for sticking with me, and I never fully disclosed things myself. This started on false pretenses and I need to—I need to go.”

Before Loki could beg Tony to listen, the man was out the restaurant and Loki was left with a hollow place in his chest that bled from being ripped out of his heart. He grabbed the tome, paid for the dinner, and wandered through the city as night consumed the air. He felt oddly cold despite fall not fully beginning. The city was too quiet almost, unable to smother the echoing of Tony’s hurt voice from his head. He didn’t even think Tony would have been approaching their relationship with the thought maybe Loki was lying about something, but he should have been smarter himself. He was a god of lies, of course no one would believe everything he said even if he personally thought he was telling nothing but truths.

Yes, he should have told Tony of his original plans but it didn’t really seem to matter anymore once he was entrapped in the man’s arms and kissing his ears and making him laugh small chuckles ringing of honey-tinged bells. The Avengers didn’t matter, Thanos didn’t matter, the possible end of the known universe didn’t matter at all as long as he had Tony at his side.

Loki laughed a sickeningly disparaging laugh. He was absolutely in love with the man without a doubt. How could he have not noticed this? Even Odin could tell and the man barely even knew Loki, probably knew more about Tony than Loki. The god sighed and was suddenly yanked off the ground with an unbecoming yelp escaping his lips.

“Sorry!” a child’s voice called when Loki landed, fists flaring green from the sudden attack. “You were about to cross the street without looking and get hit so I got you out the street.” Loki turned toward the voice and spotted a blue and red masked being crouching precariously on a lamp post. “What’s with the glowing fists? I didn’t know we had green fire fist superheroes! Are you a new Avenger since the others got apprehended as criminals?”

“I am not an Avenger, child, and since when did children join the superhero brigade out here?” Loki narrowed his eyes at the kid who sheepishly shrugged.

“I’m not really a superhero yet, just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!” He jumped from the pole and rubbed at the back of his head. “I know Mr. Stark has been busy recently since coming back to New York and I really kinda wanted to catch up on details but Happy wasn’t answering so I decided to check up on Mr. Stark myself tonight.” Loki perked. “I didn’t eavesdrop I swear! I just wanted to say don’t give up on him.”

“Excuse me?”

“He’s probably going to murder me for butting in on his business but if he’s that busy being with you and it makes him feel good then I think he’s being kinda dumb running away.” the Spider boy chuckled to himself. “See I was with him at the airport fight—he’s probably told you about that—and it was a lot of fun, like, super fun. I wasn’t dressed like this though; I had this really awesome spider suit and I’m grateful for the opportunity I had out there even if we aren’t at a hugging level of friendship yet.” The boy seemed lost in his thoughts before returning to the topic at hand. “The thing is, he’s kinda got a fear of being his dad I think. Plus fear of betrayal for obvious reasons. He fussed at me earlier when I accidentally spoiled his plans on a ferry ship. He was really mad, told me he wants to me to be better than him. I don’t know _how_ to be better than Tony Stark but he’s always calling me since I got wrapped up in some spooky evil business and he’s trying to keep me safe and be a better dad than his own dad was.”

Loki tried to think back to some conversation when Tony mentioned this spider boy. He vaguely remembered Tony talking about a ferry he had to save earlier in the week between coffee date eight and nine but coffee date nine was short since they were both busy and he couldn’t really remember much from it. The boy started talking again. “Okay, but to be fair I thought he wasn’t really there but he was there because he cares and so my point is that if he’s there for you it’s because he cares that much. And I hurt him, betrayed his trust in me by going behind his back, and I think he’s just kinda on edge still about the whole thing because betrayal has been his entire life.” The boy pointed off into the distance in what Loki assumed was the direction Tony went. “So go after him. I like happy Tony Stark, too.”

“As much as I have to apologize for my actions, you do as well, spider boy.” Loki bowed his head in thanks. “Still I am grateful for your insight and I hope your dealings with the spooky evil people ends in your favor.” The spider boy seemed to smile even though Loki couldn’t see it under the mask. “I do question why you’re so eager to impart advice to me. You do know who I am, correct?”

“You’re Loki, I remember you from back then. In fact, the reason why I’m in this is because of the mess the Battle of New York left behind.” the kid shrugged. “No hard feelings though but god those weapons are so powerful it’s insane! I didn’t know how much damage they could have caused if it weren’t for the portal failsafe and Mr. Stark’s heroics. And if he trusts you then I can’t see why I shouldn’t.”

No hard feelings? Loki cocked his head. “I see.” He didn’t. “I will leave you and take your advice well. Again, thank you for the insight.” He paused. “I don’t know the details of what you’re dealing with but don’t let anything get in the way of doing what your morals perceive to be the right thing to do.”

Spider boy’s eyes seemed to widen with a realization but Loki didn’t get the chance to ask why before the boy was swinging away on a web and yelling _thank you_ into the night sky. Loki himself was tired and figured it would be best to let Anthony have a night to think about Loki’s words. The book felt heavy in his hands when he returned to Asgard and he couldn’t even bother to look at it again after placing it on a desk near the entrance to the King’s quarters.

A night turned into days that turned into three weeks before Loki made his way back to Midgard. He had texted Tony for the first time after four days and sent a text a day for a week after but Tony left him on read like the petulant bastard he was. Frankly, Loki was pretty close to tossing his hands up in the air and giving up on this relationship. He ranted to Odin for at least an hour about how frustrated and annoyed he was, grumbling about how he spent three weeks without the man and didn’t feel any better for it. He was drowning in duties that only alluded to the end of the world coming sooner than he expected and the stress was bothering him more than he’d like to admit. No one knew he was posing as Odin on the throne expect for Tony and the man wasn’t answering him to talk.

“There are suspicions that Tony Stark is inducting a new Avenger today,” Odin commented after Loki finished spiting the Stark name and then apologizing for it.

“A new Avenger? I thought the initiative was split since the Accords.”

“They are revealing something new at the compound. It’s been airing on the news for the past week.” the old man sipped at his cup. “You might want to visit.”

“Why would I do that?” He rolled his eyes and glared at the television in hopes that a report would show up. “He’s not gonna want me there. He made it clear that he doesn’t want to talk.”

Odin bowed his head. “He may not want to talk but I cannot imagine that he wouldn’t want to _see_ you.”

“Has he visited you since we had our fight?” Odin didn’t reply and Loki laughed. “I’m not going to that damned conference.”

“Loki,” Odin said and the god stilled as fear shot through his body. He whipped around to stare, fingers sparking silver in preparation to hem the broken stitches in the spell. There must be some intense magics happening elsewhere in the world that was affecting the strength of Loki’s spell. “Please allow me this brief moment of clarity to impart some advice in this situation.”

“Father,” the god whispered, hands shaking as his throat clogged up with emotion.

The old man smiled. “Your spell is powerful, Loki, and I have struggled to break free in my ill state. Your mother would be proud.” Loki could feel the tears in his eyes and he blinked them away with a huff. “I will forget this conversation when you reinstate the spell but I must let you know that I truly have not seen you as happy as you are with Anthony Stark. I do not know the man well but his eyes were aflame with fired affection when speaking of you. Do not walk away from your own happiness.”

“He said he needed time.” Loki whispered to himself. “And his spider friend told me he is tired of betrayal and lies that he still faces today. I cannot say with confidence that I am the perfect significant other for him to be with in order to avoid such a thing.”

“Would you cross him?” the god quickly shook his head and Odin smiled. “Then assure him that you won’t. Support his announcement and prove you _have_ changed.”

“I don’t know if I have changed enough, if I am able to in the first place!” Loki rubbed hands over his face with a low groan. “I am not above the nature of my ways.”

“I only asked if you would cross _him_ , not change yourself as a person.” Odin looked over at the television where reporters were gathering for the announcement. “Even still, I believe you are more than what you believe yourself to be. Perhaps the deceit has been toward yourself all this time.”

Loki didn’t know what to say to that so he snapped his fingers and watched the memories fade from Odin’s eyes. He turned toward the tv as Odin regathered himself and the sorcerer tried to keep his voice from shaking. “I plan to attend the conference if only to know who the next Avenger is.”

Odin smiled. “That is good, Thomas.”

Loki tightened the strings on his memory and binding spells thrice before teleporting himself a good ways from the compound. He glamoured himself, tightened the knot for his tie, and made his way into the conference room. The crowd was bustling and excited but only dread shrouded Loki as he patiently stood in a corner. It was uncomfortable being in this crowd, blending in with humans who didn’t even know the Loki from the Battle of New York was among them. It was also kind of entertaining too, especially when various women tried to talk to him and figure out which newspaper or talk show he was representing.

He had just started getting comfortable when the doors leading to the podium opened and Tony walked through them. The man was dressed in a smart looking blue suit, crisp and well cut at the edges like his signature goatee. His hair was perfectly parted and styled, not a single strand out of place. Thinly framed shaded sunglasses rested on his nose bridge and as he turned to the crowd, a media worthy smile crossed his face. Loki’s green eyes followed him like everyone else, but unlike everyone else, his chest hurt with pure longing. He didn’t realize how much he had missed Tony until he was looking straight at him. He missed the fun jokes and witty humor, the conversations about Midgardian tech and silly stories about his childhood. He missed making Tony laugh, making him genuinely smile, making Tony feel respected and cared for.

While Loki felt Tony’s lash out had been a bit of an overreaction, he couldn’t blame Tony for being defensive. They had something good and invigorating between them. Suddenly springing the end of the universe on Tony, a concept that the man probably still had trouble not blaming Loki for, wasn’t the best decision. Loki hadn’t even bothered to ease Tony into his thoughts on the matter, he merely dragged him along and expected the man to believe every word. It was selfish but he found it necessary. He only hoped their time apart gave Tony the time to decompress and analyze where to go from here.

Maybe bringing up Thanos and the Infinity Stones made Tony remember he and Loki were on opposite sides of this battle for many years. Their relationship shouldn’t be happening but it was and Odin was right, Loki shouldn’t run away from this happiness.

“Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between,” Tony started cheerfully, gathering both Loki and the crowd’s attention. “I’m glad word spread pretty quick about this big announcement I’m about to make. You guys have probably heard about the Avengers being alive even after the Accords. We’re still recruiting so to speak, if anyone is interested.” He winked here and then adjusted his sunglasses with a cough. “I’m not here to announce a new Avenger so all you journalists can delete that headline from your front story pages right now. I’m here to talk about something much more personal.”

Loki felt a lump in his throat and he kind of wanted to hide but he also really wanted to know what Tony was going to announce that was so personal. Part of Loki wondered if Tony had gotten back with Pepper after all. It hurt him to think it but it was a possibility. He did love her at some point. Maybe Loki was just a fantasy come true and since Loki brought the reality of the fantasy crashing down Tony couldn’t bother anymore.

He stared at Tony as the man adjusted his tie, brown eyes scanning the crowd until they locked with Loki’s green ones. The god’s heart felt like it was in his throat from the emotional intensity the eye contact had on him. He knew Tony could see through the glamour and see him in full and the shock in Tony’s eyes, the surprise, awe, and _comfort_ staring back at Loki was mesmerizing. Tony blinked and looked down at the papers on the podium stand before crumpling them up and stuffing the wrinkled ball into his pocket.

The crowd started murmuring but Tony shut them down. “Don’t worry, I’m still about to get personal with you all; I just don’t need a script to say what I want.” He took off his sunglasses and folded them neatly on the stand. “It’s been six years since I became Iron Man to you guys, six years since I changed myself and the way Stark Industries works. A lot of secrets were revealed to me that year, a lot of dirty things that don’t need to be rediscovered. Earth has faced many battles since then, too. Call it the repercussions of the modern superhero age: with superheroes comes supervillains. We’ve opened ourselves up to cosmic powers and faced the consequences of many actions, my own still riding my ass to this day.

“You see, we all make mistakes but mistakes are the lessons we grow from. I wouldn’t be the Tony Stark I am today if I didn’t learn from my mistakes, if I didn’t hold myself accountable for them and figure out how to grow. I also wouldn’t be the Tony Stark I am today if I didn’t learn the value of truth and honesty. We all tell little white lies, am I right?” The crowd chuckled here and Tony smiled before sobering up. “But lies of omission are just as bad. Not telling everything up front is valid, I mean, some things don’t need to be said on the first date,” another chuckle from the crowd, “but as things go on it will eventually be uncovered.” Tony’s eyes seemed to bore straight into Loki’s. “It’s kind of scary to be so transparent but today I’m going to be that guy to the world.”

Tony looked out the window and seemingly smiled to himself before looking back at the crowd. “I’ve omitted a major part of myself from the public’s narrative and in an age where my influence spans the wide sphere of my company and bleeds into the general public as Iron Man, I have a duty to speak up about it. We all know I’m a ladies man but to be fair, you never asked me if I was a _guys_ man in any of the interviews.”

Gasps shot through the crowd and Tony smirked as the crowd tried to settle itself down. Loki felt a buzzing in his ears and really couldn’t tell what reaction he was supposed to have to this announcement. “Big personal announcement in a nutshell: I’m bisexual as hell. Tony Stark, your favorite one and only Iron Man, is into men. In fact, I’m in a very content relationship with a guy right now and no, I’m not disclosing names, privacy is a thing even if no one wants to respect that these days. Maybe one day you all will find out who but that’s a secret for another time.”

At that, Tony grabbed his sunglasses and slipped them on with a smile, his eyes still trained on Loki. Loki, who felt like passing out from the relief of knowing his relationship with Tony wasn’t over. The crowd rushed out the doors to talk to Tony, shouts with questions about when he realized he was into guys, why today to announce it to the world, how this would change the way he approached himself in public. Loki simply walked out the room with his hands in his pockets, still frazzled but beyond relieved.

He was pulled aside down an empty hallway by a kid with a wide grin and happy eyes. “I’m so glad you and Mr. Stark reconciled! He was practically drowning in work closing up the tower and avoiding leaving his room in the Avengers compound."

“You are the spider boy?”

“Spider-Man. I’m Spider- _Man_. But yes, that’s me.” He frowned to himself. “Ah, I guess I kind of ruined the point of having the mask but I think you could see through it anyway.”

“You’re seeing through my glamour now.”

“No, Mr. Stark just told me what you look like with your glamour on.” The kid grinned and stuck out a hand for a shake. “I’m Peter Parker; it’s nice to meet you. I feel like we’re gonna get to know each other more.”

“Loki,” he said softly as he accepted the handshake, “Loki Odinson.”

“There you two are!” They both turned at the sound of Tony’s voice and the man was grinning as he made his way toward them, ushering them into a room. He patted Parker’s head and turned to Loki with a crooked smile. “Hey, it’s been a while, Loki.”

“It has been 3 weeks, Anthony.”

“I’m gonna leave you two to chat it out, plus I think Aunt May wanted me home early today anyway.” Parker shivered and rushed to the door. “Thanks for saving the conference, Mr. Stark!”

Tony waved the kid off with a snort and once he was gone he deflated in a manner Loki didn’t really want to see. “I’m sorry I ignored you. Life was weird here cleaning up the mess left by Vulture and I was still upset about everything you told me like,” Tony shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, “the end of the universe is coming and you want the Avengers to end it? After we barely stopped you? We’re all split up and disjointed and it still _hurts_. I can’t trust them.”

“You can trust me.” Loki place gentle hands on Tony’s shoulders. “I have seen what Thanos plans, I know what will happen and I know he will stop at nothing to get those stones. I apologize for framing the situation in a manner that made you believe I had only intended to use you. You only know me as a liesmith but I am not that with you.”

Tony smiled but it was dark and lazy. “I don’t know if I can trust anyone to be honest. Yellow is everywhere, it’s in everything and I can’t stop seeing it now. I can’t stop seeing it in myself.”

“But remember, sometimes the yellow you see is merely an illusion itself.” A long fingered hand came up to cup Tony’s cheek. “We only see yellow because it is the color reflected back to us. To others they may see gray or black, white or perhaps green. We can trick ourselves into seeing what we want, believing things aren’t necessarily there.” Odin’s words started to ring in Loki’s head and he smiled down at Tony. “Do not stress yourself over what was and what could have been and focus on what _is_. I previously came to Midgard with a mission in mind and it could have been my main focus but it is not. You are.”

Tony leaned into Loki’s touch. “And you are mine.”

They kissed and it was soft and gentle and apologizes and promises all in one. Loki liked it, cherished the simple meaning, and pressed his forehead to Tony’s as they stood gazing into each other’s eyes. “I must return to Asgard soon; I spent more time here than intended and things have recently been unruly in the realms.”

“I have post press conference meetings to attend to anyway, plus some form of damage control thanks to my announcement. I actually was supposed to announce a new Avenger today but that fell through. Either way, I think coming out was the right thing to do.” Tony leaned on his toes to kiss Loki’s nose. “Have I told you I love you? I love you.”

“I love you too, Anthony.”

He smiled and it truly did outshine the sun. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Of course.”

Loki watched the shorter man make his way out the room and gave himself a moment to collect his thoughts. There was an uncontrollable smile on his face and joy in his chest that he couldn’t deny, not that he wanted to anyway. Despite the current predicament the universe was in, or at least headed toward, Loki had managed to find some happiness for himself. When he got back to the Asgardian palace wearing his Odin glamour and still metaphorically floating on that Midgardian cloud nine, he found a text from Tony on his phone.

_The ‘get to know each other’ coffee conversations are pretty much over for us, mostly because being in public is gonna be a hassle for a little while. I’d like to start ‘Avengers Reassemble’ dinner dates over beer from now on if you’re up for it._

Loki’s eyes bugged out. **_You want to attempt at bringing the Avengers back together?_ **

The response came pretty quickly. _Boyband reunions are a thing these days. Plus, I’ve already gotten you to admit you love me so it’s only fair your plan gets a little action, too. And playfulness aside, I need your help on this save the world plan. Like you said, you are the closest connection to Thanos we’ve got._

**_Understood. I will let you know as soon as I’m free._ **

_Sounds good. TTYL, babe._

Loki placed his phone on the table and plopped onto the king’s bed with a content sigh. He had Tony at his side as an ally, a friend, his _lover_ , and somehow that made fighting for the universe even easier than before. He could work on the beginnings of a plan he never really intended to seriously work on (mostly because he didn’t know how to start at first) and save the universe.

Maybe dating Tony and bringing together the Avengers wasn’t what Loki immediately planned to do after siccing Odin on Midgard. Maybe that wasn’t supposed to happen and he was supposed to ignore Midgard and simply lounge on the throne for years until his brother came back to uncover his scheme and take him on an intergalactic trip of self-discovery.

Loki found it didn’t really matter what was supposed to happen because he created a future for himself where he could be content and save the people he loved. Eventually Thor would find out Loki was on the throne and take him to Odin who would die and leave them with a sister to defeat. Eventually the Avengers would reconcile their differences and work alongside Loki and some galaxy guardians from the other side of the Milky Way to defeat the Mad Titan.

But that was eventually and certainly not now. For now, Loki was happy and happy was more than enough.


End file.
